The Clasp of Civilizations: Globalization and Religion in a Multicultural World [ Richard Alan Hartz] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

Proposing the alternative scenario of a clasp of civilizations , these essays stress the persistence of cultural diversity despite the homogenizing pressure of globalization, but argue that this diversity need not lead to conflict and may be our greatest resource. Given the centrality of religion to many cultures, much depends on the replacement of outdated attitudes of religious exclusivism by a pluralism that embraces the other. A historical landmark in the emergence of religious pluralism was the Parliament of Religions that opened in Chicago on 11 September 1893. This book brings out its significance as a global cultural event, too far ahead of its time to be fully understood by its contemporaries. The Parliament brought several notable exponents of Asian spirituality to America, including the charismatic Swami Vivekananda from India. Thus began the contact between these two countries which continues to deepen to this day. Written by an American living in India, the book contains essays on the idea of India and the American dream, as well as discussing broader questions raised by the meeting of different ways of knowing and being in an enigmatic world.

About the Author

Richard Hartz studied philosophy at Yale University and South Asian languages and literature at the University of Washington. Since 1980 he has lived in Pondicherry, India, where he is an independent scholar studying Asian languages and cultures with a particular focus on Sanskrit literature and the writings of Sri Aurobindo. These essays reflect the perspective of a Westerner who has long been immersed personally, intellectually and spiritually in an Eastern civilization.

The clasp of civilizations

One of the greatest challenges of our times is how to view and to handle diversity – religious, cultural, gender, or whatever. Are our differences a potential source of conflict or of strength? Should we seek to protect, for example, endangered languages and cultures or accept that the future lies in the increasing homogenization of humanity? These are some of the questions addressed in Richard Hartz’s new book The Clasp of Civilizations: Globalization and Religion in a Multicultural World. The title, of course, refers to Samuel Huntingdon’s influential book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, in which Huntingdon argues that future conflicts would most likely occur because of the ‘clash’ of the values of different civilizations, noting that the most likely conflicts would be between the West and Islam or China. Hartz believes that Huntingdon overstates the distinctiveness of different cultures, noting that there is no su...

How eastern is a software engineer working for a German firm in Bangalore, speaking English as his primary language, and queuing up to see the latest Hollywood film? And how western is a Manchester-born woman who trades in her mini-dress for a burqa, quits her job in a biochemistry lab and flies to Turkey to join the ISIS? Regional cultures still count for something, but global mashups will dominate the future. Increased globalization is inevitable, and the forces propelling it are beyond the control of any organization, much less any individual. But, Hartz insists, our individual choices could still make a difference. We ‘have to think about what kind of global society we want. If another world is possible, what kind of world do we want it to be?’ After stating his central concern in these words, he acknowledges that ‘economic and political issues loom large among the problems’ of the globalizing world. He is chiefly concerned with cultural matters because ‘economics and politics operate in cultural contexts which can no longer be ignored.’ This choice of focus is a natural one for Hartz: he is, the jacket informs us, a scholar interested in Asian languages and cultures, notably Sanskrit literature and the works of Sri Aurobindo. Throughout the book he relates the thought of Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Jawaharlal Nehru and other Asian thinkers to the globalization theories of Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama and other western political scientists. But before examining Hartz’s take on cultural interaction, I want ...